Nas Steadfastly Determined to Please Record Company

Courtesy of Columbia Records

Nas’s ongoing efforts to make his upcoming untitled ninth album (previously titled Nigga, then Nigger) the most commercial, easily marketable one of his career continue with this newly unveiled cover, which features his back apparently covered in whip marks. The record will include such tracks as “Be a Nigger Too” (the first single), “N.I.G.G.E.R.” (no word yet on what this is an acronym for), and “The Fear (of the Black Man’s Dick),” and is expected to be preceded by a mix tape tentatively titled The Nigger Tape. We’ll give it to Nas: He is not screwing around. You have to respect that, and we’re looking forward to watching every newspaper in America twist itself in circles just to write about the album.